Question

It was once common to regard Britain as a society with class distinction. Each class had unique characteristics.

In recent years, many writers have begun to speak the ‘decline of class’ and ‘classless society’ in Britain. And in modern day consumer society everyone is considered to be middle class.

But pronouncing the death of class is too early. A recent wide-ranging society of public opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences. Thus, class may not be culturally and politically obvious, yet it remains an important part of British society. Britain seems to have a love of stratification (分层).

One unchanging aspect of a British person’s class position is accent. The words a person speaks tell her or his class. A study of British accents during 1970s found that a voice sounding like a BBC newsreader was considered as the most attractive voice. Most people said this accent sounded ‘educated’ and ‘soft’. The accents placed at the bottom in this study, on the other hand, were regional accents. These accents were seen as ‘common’ and ‘ugly’. However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least. This suggests that British attitudes towards accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice (偏见).

In recent years, however, young upper middle-class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional accents, in order to hide their class origins. This is an indication of class becoming unnoticed. However, the 1995 pop song ‘Common People’ puts forward the view that though a middle-class person may ‘want to live like common people’, they can never appreciate the reality of a working-class life.

1.A recent study of public opinion shows that in modern Britain ________.

A. it is time to end class distinction

B. most people belong to middle class

C. it is easy to recognize a person’s class

D. people regard themselves socially different

2.The study in the US showed that BBC English was regarded as ________.

A. regional    B. educated

C. standard    D. unattractive

3.British attitudes towards accent ________.

A. have a long tradition    B. are based on regional status

C. are shared by the Americans    D. have changed in recent years

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. The middle class is expanding.    B. A person’s accent reflects his class.

C. Class is a key part of British society.    D. Each class has unique characteristics.

Answer

1. D

2. D

3. A

4. C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，通过两项调查表明了阶级是英国社会的重要组成部分。

1.推理判断题。根据第三段中的“A recent wide-ranging society of public opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences.”可知，在关于“阶级消亡说”的调查中，90％的人把自己归入特殊的阶层，73％的人认为阶级仍然是英国社会的重要组成部分，52％的人认为社会阶层之间差异明显，由此推知，英国民众认为他们在社会上仍然是有区别的，故D项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第四段中的“However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least.”可知，美国的这项调查表明BBC英语被认为是最没有吸引力的口音，故D项正确。

3.细节理解题。根据第四段中的“This suggests that British attitudes towards accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice.”可知，英国人对口音的态度根深蒂固并带有偏见，故A项正确。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文可知，文章介绍了阶级划分是英国社会的重要组成部分，文章列举了两项调查，“阶级消亡说”这项调查表明英国民众在社会上仍然是有区别的，在关于“好的口音”调查表明英国的阶级划分根深蒂固，由此可知文章大意是阶级是英国社会的重要组成部分，故C项正确。